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Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Three tutors can school Salleh on gov't scandals, says Kit Siang

DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang has proposed three tutors to school Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak on the government's financial scandals.

"Salleh should seek proper schooling on the subjects of the BMF, Bank Negara forex and 1MDB scandals before he makes a fool of himself in his blog," Lim said in a statement today.

Salleh yesterday said the government's exposure through 1MDB involved only the paid-up capital, which meant that the BMF scandal in the 1980s during the Mahathir-administration was worse.

In view of this, Salleh said a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) should be held on the BMF scandal and Bank Negara's losses in the forex market in the early 1990s.

This was after Lim and former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad called for probes into the BMF and forex scandals, as well as into 1MDB.

Lim said Salleh can be tutored on the 1MDB scandal by Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua.

Pua had during a Save Malaysia roundtable yesterday shared slides claiming that the government was exposed to more than RM39.8 billion in debt from government back bonds for 1MDB - not inclusive of loans related to Bandar Malaysia and the Tun Razak Exchange.

Pua also claimed that more than RM24.7 billion of public funds had been misappropriated through 1MDB.

Chooi was one of the three members of the BMF Inquiry Committee together with former auditor-general Ahmad Nordin and accountant Ramli Ibrahim.

"(They) spent two years (on the inquiry) and produced the most complete picture of the RM2.5 billion BMF scandal - of the massive theft, fraud and criminal breach of trust of public monies by a conspiracy of public officials and corporate crooks," Lim said.

As for the forex scandal, Lim said he knew of someone whose knowledge on the scandal was "second to none".

However he did not reveal who this was.

"If Salleh wants his name, I am prepared to name him," the Gelang Patah MP said.

CIA declassified report on BMF

The Mahathir-era scandals re-entered the spotlight after the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) declassified a report on BMF.

The report suggested that Mahathir's government was aware of BMF's dubious dealings in the 1980s.

The BMF scandal had cost US$1 billion in losses due to its lending practices.

Former Bank Negara assistant governor Abdul Murad Khalid last month claimed that the central bank had lost US$10 billion in the foreign exchange market during Mahathir's era.

Murad said despite the heavy losses, there was no investigation over the matter.

Meanwhile, 1MDB is the focus of multiple investigations overseas.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed that more than US$3.5 billion in 1MDB funds had been misappropriated.

This includes allegations that US$731 million made its way to the accounts of Malaysian Official 1 (MO1).

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan has confirmed that Najib is MO1.

Najib however denies having misappropriated public funds.

The prime minister and attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali have said that the "RM2.6 billion" in the premier's accounts prior to the 2013 elections was a donation from the Saudi royal family.- Mkini